Kevin Sobers and I formed Moyenne in 1998.  Together with Junior Noel we made it our pace to make and play music.  A connected collective of musicians played with us over the score and more which has functioned primarily as a trio, quartet and sometimes quintet: Douglas Redon, Darren Sheppard, Kyle Noel, Joshema McIntosh, Jason Baptiste, Sean Thomas, Moses Auguste, Tamba Gwindi, Duvone Stewart, Felix Ruiz and Curtis Ruiz all stepped in at one time or another in the small combo.  The opportunity to create…

Here in Trinidad and Tobago we are finding ways to keep our Carnival memory in tact; pan performances, fetes in your living room, carnival tents on YouTube, Junior Calypso Competitions online.  Most importantly we have at least one consistent source to go to to find out about it:Peter Blood’s “Pulse by Bloodline” is online, on FaceBook. 
https://www.facebook.com/Pulse-by-Bloodline-103874954987344 

The EJC’s “Woodbrook Party” on Saturday 6th February will feature a live performance by Moyenne and special…

This week I’ve been listening to “things Carnival”;  you, songs, news updates.  The word that has floated to the top of my consciousness is “Backyard Jam”.  Could this be the way we celebrate Carnival in 2021 and re-think the essentials of Carnival practice?  Its emergence is being met in the same way many of the tenets of carnival originally were, with restrictions and repression.  The similarity in reception may indicate a similarity in its significance to Carnival while its size presents a way to engage…

Carnival is more than a parade.  It is a ritual of creation and interaction through which and in which African Heritage people in the Americas remember their ancestors. their heritage, their connection and their power.  It is where we in Trinidad have placed our Canboulay feast, the feast that recognises the end of our forced servitude and reminds us that liberation is an ongoing exercise. The question then is never if we will participate in Carnival arts (pan, kaiso and mas’) in the weeks preceding the…